UPDATE FEB 2010:

On the 11th December 2009, Ruth set off on a journey which would change her life forever. She left with one intention: to instruct teachers, tailors, seamstresses and orphan children in one of Ghana's poorer regions how to sew.

As many of you know, sewing is nothing new for Ruth. Over the years she has taught all across the UK and Ireland, helping many of you develop your hobbies into beautiful, creative results. But with so much poverty in Ghana, a hobby needs to put bread on the table. Ruth wanted to help bring this small region in to the 21st century by supplying 24 machines to three secondary schools. The aim was to instruct seamstresses or tailors in the main towns and maybe even secure the children an opportunity to take up an apprenticeship with them. The pressure was most definitely on.

Upon arrival it was clear that the sewing machines sent in the container from the UK would not be cleared by the agent on time. Ruth visited all the schools and gave a day to each sharing as much knowledge as they could take on board. She showed them as much as she could on the old hand machines and battered old electric ones they had there. Caring for the people went far beyond the classroom too. Some days were spent introducing herself to seamstresses and tailors by taking a paint brush, bottle of oil, cleaning cloth and packet of needles out of her bag and asking or often just pointing at the sewing machines. At one point, she even spent two days searching every possible shop for 3A fuses...

One of the biggest challenges Ruth faced getting the machines up and running was finding appropriate power supplies. With power demands often far outstripping supply, surges and power trips were common. Being organized, Ruth included several surge protected, multi-plugs in the shipment, circuit breakers and some British Safety Standard fuse plugs.

Enlisting the support of local taxis was slow and often inconsistent. Ruth decided to rent a moped. It was on one of these journeys that disaster unfortunately struck when on 9th January at exactly 2pm  a swerving water truck pushed Ruth into a deep ditch… 

Life for Ghanians is tough. Their hospitals are pretty basic and it took several bribes to get seen at the weekend by a doctor. It's hard to blame anyone for this ostensible unfairness - out of three x-ray machines, only one was working. How can any system work fairly when demand far outstrips supply? It was in one of these hospitals that Ruth was treated with make-shift apparatus. Everyone was so obliging due to her being a white volunteer but she felt so humbled by it all. She can't thank Eban enough, who stayed with her during the whole ordeal acting as husband, mother and friend, also Fred from SVG Africa who made every effort to get her on the earliest flight home.

By Monday evening, having been told lower spine surgery was required in Accra, Ruth finally admitted defeat and decided to return to the UK. After ‘purchasing’ an aviation exception certificate in Accra, KLM were happy to fly her home on the 10pm flight 11th January 2010. They treated Ruth with the utmost care and attention, taking her from Accra to Heathrow via Amsterdam to arrive at the terminal where her husband was waiting.

Arriving in Britain was like a different world. For a start it was bitterly cold, but most importantly the local hospital was staffed and had working x-ray machines. After transferring to a different hospital, Ruth spent several weeks undergoing surgery and recovery. She now has a titanium plate protecting her top two vertebrae. It will sadly be several months before Ruth can start teaching again or drive.

Despite everything, this experience will not stop Ruth. "It has changed my life forever," she writes on her Facebook page. "I didn't learn something every day, I learnt something every minute. I have to go back." Ruth now plans to recover and start organizing her next trip. This time there's just one condition: no mopeds!

Giving thanks

To Mum, Dad and Ian, her husband. Eban, Rebeca and Fred, Caroline from CCB plus all the other places she works who have happily changed all their course dates, the volunteers and children at the orphanage and especially everyone who has sent over 100 cards, emails and gifts. Thank You.

Archive 2009:

From 11th December 2009 until 11th February 2010 Ruth plans to do voluntary teaching in association with Norwich based Original Volunteers . She will travel to Kwahu South, which is in the Eastern Region of Ghana close to Mpraeso, North West of Accra.

There are two orphanages in Kwahu that have children up to the age of 19 and Ruth will be introducing the older girls to electric sewing machines. Skills, machines and equipment that we take for granted in the U.K are much needed in this very underdeveloped part of Ghana. 

With so much poverty, very few can afford to have a sewing machine of their own and this is essential if they are to gain an apprenticeship with a seamstress or tailor in the main towns. Those that do have a machine have mainly basic hand crank machines (Singer 15K).

She will be taking at least 12 new electric machines and accessories donated by sewing machine dealers (to be listed soon), haberdashery and lots of sewing equipment given by groups, customers and students.

The schools where the children are educated are thankfully now connected to the power grid so Ruth hopes to instruct, inspire and motivate the girls and textile teachers on how to get the best from electric zigzag sewing machines. 

Ruth also hopes to be able to do Saturday schools and if possible, a few evening classes for more mature students.

This is the first time a sewing project of this scale has been undertaken in Kwahu and this knowledge should help them to gain better prospects of improving their quality of life.

The 10-day break over Christmas will be an opportunity to play and do other exciting craft work with them all, including the younger ones at the children’s Home.

It would be fantastic to have a few second hand machines to give away some to those who attend her workshops and whose homes are lucky enough to have access to power, even if only for a few hours a day. This would leave the new ones at the schools and orphanages.

Second hand machines have been offered, but Ruth can only afford to take a few at present. Any C.B hook machines (same system as the Singer 15K) that are suitable will be serviced free of charge by Superstitch Sewing Machines in Leigh-On-Sea – Essex, ready to be shipped in November.

If successful Ruth hopes to go again November 2010 for at least 6 weeks but we will have to wait and see how this trip goes before she can decide.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read about this rather venturous project in Ghana and if you feel you would like to contribute please email Ruth for further details on how you can help. jarmantuition@aol.com